Local Aid Distribution

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, the distribution to cities and towns of the balance of the State Lottery Fund, as paid from the General Fund in accordance with clause (c) of the second paragraph of section 35 of chapter 10 of the General Laws, and additional funds from the General Fund shall be $944,836,706 and shall be apportioned to the cities and towns in accordance with this section. Notwithstanding section 2 of chapter 70 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, except for section 12B of chapter 76 and section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, for fiscal year 2010 the total amounts to be distributed and paid to each city and town from item 7061-0008 of section 2 shall be as set forth in the following lists. The specified amounts to be distributed from said item 7061-0008 of said section 2 shall be in full satisfaction of the amounts due under chapter 70 of the General Laws. For fiscal year 2010, the foundation budget categories for each district shall be calculated in the same manner as in fiscal year 2009. For fiscal year 2010, the foundation inflation index shall equal the prior year's foundation inflation index multiplied by the minimum of: (a) the ratio of the value of the implicit price deflator for state and local government purchases in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year to its value in the first quarter of the year 2 years before, and (b) 1.045. The target local share shall be calculated using the same methodology used in fiscal year 2009. The preliminary contribution shall be the municipality's fiscal year 2009 minimum required local contribution, increased or decreased by the municipal revenue growth factor. The minimum required local contribution for fiscal year 2010 shall be, for any municipality with a fiscal year 2010 preliminary contribution less than its fiscal year 2010 target contribution, the greater of: (a) the fiscal year 2009 minimum required contribution increased by municipal revenue growth factors adjusted as follows; but if a municipality's preliminary contribution as a percentage of its foundation budget is more than 5 percentage points lower than the target local share, the preliminary contribution shall be recalculated using the municipality's revenue growth factor plus 1 percentage point; and if a municipality's preliminary contribution as a percentage of its foundation budget is more than 10 percentage points lower than the target local share, the preliminary contribution shall be recalculated using the municipality's revenue growth factor plus 2 percentage points, or (b) the lesser of 95 per cent of the municipality's fiscal year 2008 actual contribution or the municipality's fiscal year 2010 target contribution. Minimum required local contribution for fiscal year 2010 shall be, for any municipality with a fiscal year 2010 preliminary contribution greater than its fiscal year 2010 target contribution the preliminary local contribution reduced by 25 per cent of the gap between the preliminary local contribution and the target local contribution. The required local contribution shall be allocated among the districts to which a municipality belongs in direct proportion to the foundation budgets for the municipality's pupils at each of those districts. Chapter 70 aid for fiscal year 2010 shall be as distributed in fiscal year 2009. No non-operating district shall receive chapter 70 aid in an amount greater than the district's foundation budget. If there is a conflict between the language of this section and the distribution listed below, the distribution below shall control. The department of secondary and elementary education shall not consider health care costs for retired teachers to be part of net school spending for any district in which such costs were not considered part of net school spending in fiscal year 1994. No payments to cities, towns or counties maintaining an agricultural school under this section shall be made after November 30 of the fiscal year until the commissioner of revenue certifies acceptance of the prior fiscal year's annual financial reports submitted under section 43 of chapter 44 of the General Laws. Advance payments shall be made for some or all of periodic local reimbursement or assistance programs to any city, town, regional school district or independent agricultural and technical school that demonstrates an emergency cash shortfall, as certified by the commissioner of revenue and approved by the secretary of administration and finance, under guidelines established by the secretary. Notwithstanding any general law or special law to the contrary, the total amounts to be distributed and paid to each city and town from the 1 per cent increase in the room occupancy excise under section 3 of chapter 64G of the General Laws and the 1 per cent restaurant meals excise under section 2B of chapter 64H of the General Laws shall be $149,247,706 and shall be apportioned to the cities and towns in accordance with this section, but only if the statutes providing these excise revenues are enacted. If those statutes are enacted but these excise revenues are not generated to the level of distribution apportioned in this section, funds shall be provided from the General Fund. If these excise revenues exceed the distribution below, they shall be distributed to cities and towns in the same manner as the balance of the State Lottery Fund.